Wash Me Cleaner
by Kioni-chan
Summary: Rufus Shinra has been patient in his long recovery after the Shin-Ra Tower explosion. After he can finally walk again he is faced with a far more dangerous problem.


A relatively short Final Fantasy VII: Pre-AC piece. My take on how things could have gone.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy stuff.

ONWARD!

Rufus Shinra didn't have a name for the plague that was tormenting his city. Not yet at least. All he knew was that it was affecting \children and so far every case had been fatal. There was no cure.

The young president of Shin-Ra Electric Power Company sat back in his chair, fingers steepled together. More cases were pouring in and his scientists were calling the disease Geostigma, but were still unsure of what it was.

Rufus sighed and brushed hair from his face. First the Sephiroth fiasco and now this. All in a little over a year. What next?

A stack of papers fell on his desk, causing the blonde to look up. An exotic face that had been near Rufus as long \as he could remember gazed back.

"The building quotes," Tseng murmured. Rufus nodded and took the stack up, looking it over. IT would be pricey to rebuilt the Shin-Ra Tower. Very pricey indeed.

After a long moment the young man set the documents aside and made to stand but a hand on his shoulder kept him down.

"No sir," Tseng said firmly. Rufus almost protested but even his stubborn mind knew he was not strong enough yet to stand alone. Not since the explosion. Instead he settled back down and waited for the damned wheelchair that he had been confined to for a little more than thirteen months.

"How much longer before I'm allowed to walk?" he grumbled. Tseng grasped his elbow and helped him into the wheelchair.

"Two more weeks," the Turk replied. "Because you've been doing so well in therapy."

Rufus glowered as Tseng pushed him out onto the deck of Healin Lodge. It was sunny there and pleasantly warm.

"I hate being stuck in a chair," the blonde growled. His bodyguard almost smiled.

"I know sir, but please be patient."

With his company slumping the next two weeks seemed to drag on and on to Rufus. But one day he rose from his chair and Tseng didn't stop him. With slow, hesitant steps the president moved across the room and once he realized that it didn't hurt at all, he did it again and again, pacing. Tseng smiled and folded up the wheelchair and put it away while his charge walked outside to enjoy the sun on his face without cold metal and vinyl beneath him.

The problems of Midgar were the last thing on his mind.

Days went by with Rufus wandering about Healin, bored out of his mind but refusing to utilize the pool or other recreational activities at the Lodge.

"Tseng," he called onto one of the outdoor patios where the Turk was reading. "I'm going to take a shower." The older man looked up and nodded before Refus disappeared behind a bathroom door.

The young man began the tedious tast of removing his many layers, a fashion statement that he had maintained. As he pulled his black turtleneck over his head he glanced in the mirror out of habit and gasped. Black splotched covered his pale chest and stomach as well as his arms. A shot of panic ran through the blode as he turned on the shower water and finished undressing. His legs were tainted as well.

Rufus took a deep, shuddering breath and squeezed his eyes shut before climbing into the shower. The cascade of water washed over his pale flesh, but the black markings were not washed away. Rufus snatched up a cloth and began scrubbing at his skin.

He kept it up for a long while, scraping at his arms, chest, and legs until the skin was raw. Slowly the black began to shrink away, but not until the water had grown cold. Rufus turned off the water and stepped out of the shower before wrapping a towel about his waist. He leaned against a wall a moment and sank to the floor, staring at the red that had blossomed across his body.

"I don't have time for this," he whispered. "Only children get Geostigma…"

The blonde sat there a long time until the stinging left his flesh. He then stood moved to get dressed.

Sometime later Rufus sat behind a desk again, attempting to keep his mind off the Stigma he knew was coming back to his arms. Tseng was nearby and he wondered if the Turk could sense the black weakness oozing across his skin. It was almost unbearable.

He withstood it a few moments longer before standing and excusing himself to the bathroom. Once inside he peeled away a few lays of his clothing and found that some of the inner whit had been stained black. With the same surge of panic as before he turned on the water in the sink and began to scrub his arms.

For several minutes he stayed at it, washing furiously, willing the disease to go down the drain with the blackness.

"Rufus…"

His eyes shot up to the mirror, falling on the reflection of his bodyguard. A red flush of shame crept onto his cheeks as the rag he had been using fell from his hand.

"Ts-Tseng…"

The Turk wrapped his arms around the president so his dark hair fell about the young man's shoulders and neck.

"Why are you hiding this…?" he whispered. Rufus squeezed his eyes shut.

"I don't need this sort of weakness…" the blonde murmured. "I just got out of that wheelchair. I don't need to go back…"

Tseng tightened his hold on the boy, for that's what Rufus was to him.

"This is not weakness…" he said. His voice was firm and smooth, calming. "It is merely a setback.. You… _we _will work through this." With his words Tseng turned him about. "We will…"

Rufus looked up at him a long moment before nodding with the powerful determination he had inherited from his father.

"You're right Tseng… You're always right…"

The Turk smiled a bit and the small gesture gave Rufus the strength to smile back and the determination to fight on.

~FIN~


End file.
